Wednesday, August 30, 2006

The August Comics, Part 1 [Spoilers]

I added a few books to my list last month, and this month I'm trying to decide whether to keep them on the list or throw 'em back. I don't know if it's fair to make this decision based on 2-4 issues (since we order ours online, I'm ordering them several months before they arrive, so that's the minimum I'll get of what I decide to try out) but at $2.99 an issue, that's all they get.


The Atom #2

On the whole I'm still enjoying this quite a bit. The Byrne art gives it that nostalgia thing--actually there's something of an old-school feeling about the whole book. But mainly it's just a really fun read. A new superhero who isn't all angsty? Who finds the whole thing endlessly exciting? Who is probably going to pull some really stupid stuff in the process of learning about his powers? The book isn't yet in my read-it-first list but it could get there.


Fantastic Four #539

I think this is the first instance I've seen where the two sides on Civil War are shown as equal. According to Marvel, there's no one right side--there are good points on either side--which may be true intellectually, but anyone who's been reading the books knows that Cap's side has been, so far, presented far more sympathetically than IM's. Well, here that discrepancy doesn't exist. Both sides are presented as being in the wrong. Refreshing, no? Always did like Ben Grimm...

And yes, there's a lot of over the top in this storyline, but on the whole I liked it, and the message that while a principle may be worth fighting for, you can't look only at the principle, you have to watch how it's executed in the real world as well.


The Flash #3

I'm torn on this book. While it's good in many ways, Bart doesn't really interest me enough in this role to keep me coming back. However, the book also has Jay Garrick--if I could count on regular appearances from him, it'd definitely be on my keep list. In fact, he's partly responsible for one of my favorite comic moments of this month:





The default perception in comics is that--for women especially, but also for men--young = beautiful. Old can be virtuous, kind, brave, intelligent, but never attractive, never sexual. I do understand part of this--comic book readers are, on the whole, young folks (although not kids, not any longer), and for some reason (don't ask me why, I don't get it either) a lot of young folks are not comfortable with their elders being attractive, sexual beings. (You'd think they would be, considering that none of us are getting any younger.) So this small scene, where Joan Garrick is portrayed as a vibrant, attractive woman while also being portrayed visually as an older woman (not, as is often the case both in comics and in the rest of the world, as someone who looks younger than her years--folks these days can consider an older woman hot or sexy, but only if she doesn't look older)--that means a lot.


4: First Family #6/6

If this hadn't been a mini, I wouldn't have kept it on the list. The art doesn't appeal to me, and I still don't see the need for an external conflict. But the characterization is all right, although I'd have been happier if it had been closer to the original. I don't mean that Sue should have been shown as the air-headed shrinking violet she often was in the sixties, but she has grown a lot over the last 40+ years, probably more than any of the other members of the FF--and is really quite a different person now. You don't see much of that in this book.


Green Lantern Corps #3

I am still surprised at how much I like this book. The large cast helps, I'm sure. I'm still liking Soranik Natu a lot. (Oh yes, and she's still around. Spoilers here, remember?) The way they tricked the villain into coming to them? Great. The way they couldn't hold him because he had diplomatic immunity? Something you'd think an experienced Lantern would have thought of, so it's interesting to see where the focus seems to be for these folks. I'm wondering about Natu's choice of Iolande as a new Lantern, though--was this really the right choice, or did she have more personal motives. I wonder because of this image:



In the second panel, the ring frames Ragnar's face, indicating to me that Natu's focus is really on him rather than Iolande. It's certainly possible that Natu's motives were mixed and that Iolande is an excellent candidate. I suppose we'll find out eventually.

2 comments:

Ragnell said...

Oh! Nikky didn't choose Iolande. Teh Guardians did.

You don't ever personally choose your successor or partner (Exception being: Jones' era, beginning of Vol 3, when the battery had been destroyed the first time), it's a search for a worthy candidate thing done by the Guardians or the ring itself.

Brainfreeze said...

That's what I was hoping; I was wondering because they'd said "you'll know when the time is right," which could mean that she had thought the time was right (having presumably not done this before) but there might have been a subconscious something going on. Of course now that I think about it, the ring wouldn't have worked if the time hadn't been right...